Hypertext Webster Gateway: "conjecture"

From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)

Conjecture \Con*jec"ture\ (; 135?), n. [L. conjectura, fr.
conjicere, conjectum, to throw together, infer, conjecture;
con- + jacere to throw: cf. F. conjecturer. See {Jet} a
shooting forth.]
An opinion, or judgment, formed on defective or presumptive
evidence; probable inference; surmise; guess; suspicion.

He [Herodotus] would thus have corrected his first
loose conjecture by a real study of nature. --Whewell.

Conjectures, fancies, built on nothing firm. --Milton.

From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)

Conjecture \Con*jec"ture\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Conjectured}; p.
pr. & vb. n. {Conjecturing}.] [Cf. F. conjecturer. Cf.
{Conject}.]
To arrive at by conjecture; to infer on slight evidence; to
surmise; to guess; to form, at random, opinions concerning.

Human reason can then, at the best, but conjecture what
will be. --South.

From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)

Conjecture \Con*jec"ture\, v. i.
To make conjectures; to surmise; to guess; to infer; to form
an opinion; to imagine.

From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)

conjecture
n 1: a hypothesis that has been formed by speculating or
conjecturing (usually with little hard evidence);
"speculations about the outcome of the election"; "he
dismissed it as mere conjecture" [syn: {speculation}]
2: a message expressing an opinion based on incomplete evidence
[syn: {guess}, {supposition}, {surmise}, {surmisal}, {speculation},
{hypothesis}]
3: reasoning that involves the formation of conclusions from
incomplete evidence
v : to believe especially on uncertain or tentative grounds:
"Scientists supposed that large dinosaurs lived in
swamps." [syn: {speculate}, {theorize}, {theorise}, {hypothesize},
{hypothecate}, {suppose}]


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